


one million lovers

by liebstes



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Insecurity, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, background kataang, background toph/suki - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27057364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liebstes/pseuds/liebstes
Summary: What he was not expecting, was for Sokka to open his mouth, and say, “I’m in love with you! Like, so hard, dude. Oh– should I not call you dude? Can you call people you’re in love with that? How ‘bout bro, or–”His brain stopped working.“No, you’re not,” Zuko said, cutting off Sokka’s rambling.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 407





	one million lovers

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for clicking!!! welcome to the dumbass AU, where everyone (mainly zuko) is a dumbass
> 
> also not relevant to the story but know that zuko is trans as in every story i write. i love one (1) gay trans boy and its him

This was entirely Toph’s fault. 

_C’mon, we gotta go out tonight!_

_How often do you get to celebrate Katara getting her Master’s degree, huh?_

_Nah, I already got a place in mind. We’re not going to that dump that waters down drinks, okay?_

Maybe it’d be better if they did water down the drinks. Aang and Katara were in the booth mumbling some lovey-dovey sweet nothings to each other, Toph was flirting with Suki and seemed to be… succeeding? 

And Sokka? Well, Sokka was animatedly telling a story from work to Zuko with way too many hand gestures and too little personal space. Sure, he had volunteered to be designated driver, but Zuko wasn’t quite prepared to have to babysit all four of them. After convincing Toph not to fight the bartender and to talk with Suki instead, and reassuring Aang that the couple over in the corner was perfectly happy, things seemed to have calmed down. 

“And I was just like, wha–! Like, what! I was like, ‘no fucking way that happened’, but Hana kept swearing it was true and that it was real and I,” Sokka finished abruptly, taking Zuko by the shoulders and staring him right in the eyes. 

Zuko wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he had been with Sokka enough while drunk to narrow it down. From past experience, Sokka would either tell him the sudden, irresistible craving he just got, insist they go back to Aang’s place so they can pet Appa, announce that he was seconds away from vomiting, or he would compliment Zuko. 

He’s not sure when it began, but ever since they started going out to bars regularly a year ago Sokka had become incredibly affectionate while drunk, but just to Zuko. He thought it was the strangest thing. Logically, he could make sense of it, they did live together and therefore see each other the most out of the group, so of course, Sokka would stick to him in times like this. 

Why he felt the need to say such ridiculous things, however, was beyond him. 

He remembers when Aang had gotten a promotion and they all went to a local joint to celebrate. Zuko wasn’t driving so he joined in the festivities and ended the night with Sokka’s head on his shoulder in the back of a cab, the former whispering, “Y’know, your hair is so goddamn soft, it’s not fair. Seriously. Every time I see it, I’m like, wow!” 

Zuko blushed then and he still blushes now. 

So, as Sokka was leaning slightly forward with nothing on his face but contentment, Zuko ruled vomiting out of the chance. He hadn’t seen Appa in a while, so maybe he was going down that route…?

“Zuko, I just need you to know, seriously dude, you’re like, the best. Best fucking roommate ever. Oh my god, I won the roommate lottery!” Sokka giggled, shaking his shoulders lightly. 

Zuko grinned in response. He could deal with this, Sokka wasn’t even going on about his eyes or how big his hands were. This was easy. 

“Even though sometimes you leave your socks on the couch, that’s like, so okay. I still love you, bro,” Sokka said. His eyes then widened dramatically as he gripped Zuko even tighter. “Oh! I have to tell you something! I almost forgot!”

“Yeah?” He asked, figuring it was something like, _’I have to pee, right now,’ or ‘Shit, I forgot to run the dishwasher.’_

What he was not expecting, was for Sokka to open his mouth, and say, “I’m in love with you! Like, so hard, dude. Oh– should I not call you dude? Can you call people you’re in love with that? How ‘bout bro, or–” 

His brain stopped working. 

“No, you’re not,” Zuko said, cutting off Sokka’s rambling. 

“Not what? Allowed to call you bro?” Sokka asked, nose scrunched. “That’s fine, I’ll figure something else out!”

“No,” Zuko continued, “You’re not in love with me.” 

Sokka looked at him as if he grew a second head, then belly-laughed. Zuko was seventy percent sure this was a fever dream. 

“Yes, I am, dummy! Ask anyone. Seriously. I bet even the bartender knows,” He finishes quietly with a giggle. 

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Sokka obviously got too drunk and was saying stuff he didn’t mean. Should Zuko play along? Get Katara? Force him in the car to go home? 

“Alright guys, I’m officially calling it quits,” Katara, bless the Spirits, says as she walks over, only tripping a little. “Spirits, I cannot handle liquor anymore. Are you guys ready to go?”

“Yes,” Zuko replies at the same time as Sokka says, “I love Zuko!”. He elbows Sokka to try and get him to quiet down but it only makes Katara laugh. “Ugh, God, finally! Thought I’d have to hear Sokka pout forever,” She says, making Zuko think _pout over what?_

Aang joins them, his and Katara’s jackets in hand. “I’ll go get Toph and Suki! Thanks for spending the night with us, guys!” 

Zuko mumbles a _yeah, you too,_ and attempts to get Sokka to stand. 

“Noooo! I wanna stay here, Zuko. Too tired. Can’t move,” He says dramatically, lowering all his weight onto Zuko as if that’ll stop him. 

“Too bad. It’s time to go home.”

Sokka gives him a hopeful glance and a grin. “With you?” 

_Duh, we’re roommates,_ he wants to say. Instead, he gives a tired smile and a nod. That gets Sokka shooting out of Zuko’s hold and ready to go. 

He and Aang make up some song about Zuko’s Prius as they make their way to the car, Katara in tow with Toph and Suki holding hands. Zuko does not have the mental space to deal with _that_ tonight. 

He drops everyone off at their respective homes, only having to wrestle the aux away from Sokka twice, because no, now is not the time for Dolly Parton.

“Zukoooo, I don’t wanna sleep alone,” Sokka whines as they make their way into their apartment. “It’s so cold and you’re like a travel-size heater.” 

_Don’t let him embarrass himself. He’ll regret it tomorrow,_ he thinks. “No, Sokka I can’t. Let’s get you to your room,” Zuko says, absolutely not thinking about what it would be like to cuddle up with him right now. Not at all. 

“You’re so mean to me,” Sokka says with a glare, “but you’re lucky I love you!” 

“You don’t,” Zuko insists. That only gets him to stick out his tongue and shout, “Do too!”.

He manages to get him in bed in one piece, and after declining to stay with him again, Zuko closes Sokka’s door and slumps against it. He figured Sokka was too drunk to hear but the muffled, _”I love you!”_ proves otherwise. 

He groans and goes down the hallway to his own room, flopping down on the bed with his head in his pillows. 

_Agni, why?_

***

Zuko wakes up and wishes for death.

Well, not immediately. At first, it had been nice. There was no alarm, it was Saturday, that tiny dog one floor down hadn’t started yapping yet. There was peace. 

Then, he remembered last night’s events. Sokka caressing his face at the bar with far too much sincerity for a drunk person, whispered confessions of love in his car while Suki laughed in the backseat, and Sokka inviting him to stay the night. 

He groaned and stubbornly got up to brush his teeth. He knew he would be awake before Sokka, so the least he could do is make the man some coffee before he realizes what he did last night. 

After thumbing through his emails because _some_ people thought it was acceptable to send work information on a Friday night, he made his own tea and prepared their little machine for Sokka’s coffee. It was nothing fancy, just whatever beans they had at the store with a splash of milk and hazelnut syrup, but Zuko liked making it for him. It always earned him a sleepy-Sokka grin as he wrapped his fingers around the mug to warm up, peeking at Zuko over the rim. 

It was just nice, he reasoned. 

After sitting down to watch whatever show was on TV– this time, a true-crime special about some killer in the 80’s, he heard the telltale sounds of Sokka waking up and started the coffee machine. 

Sokka always let out a loud groan when he woke up– presumably stretching? And not too long after he would leave his room. After living with each other for three years post-college, Zuko prided himself on knowing Sokka’s and his own routines. 

“Dude, did I die and go to the afterworld last night? Cause my mouth sure tastes like it,” Sokka says unpromptedly as he opens his door and sights Zuko. 

“I tried to get you to brush your teeth last night, but I was firmly ignored,” Zuko reminds him, sipping his now cooled tea. 

That stops Sokka in his tracks halfway between his room and the bathroom. 

“Last night,” He says. 

Zuko arches his eyebrow and just replies, “Yep. Last night.”. 

That seems to be enough for Sokka who just hums and continues his walk. 

_Is Sokka not going to address it? Should he bring it up, just to clear the air? Or maybe he prefers if we just pretend it never happened. Or–_

His thoughts distract him as he eyes the television with little interest, listening to the sound of the sink from the bathroom. Their place isn’t large and it’s easy to know where the other is at all times. Not that Zuko is constantly cataloguing where Sokka is. Nope. 

“You made me coffee!” He hears from the kitchen as Sokka trots over with his mug and a box of cereal. “Thanks,” he says as he takes a sip and opens their Honey Nut Cheerios. 

Dry cereal and hazelnut coffee was not a pairing Zuko had never considered before, but he lets the man eat in peace. 

“So, you don’t seem that hungover,” Zuko offers. 

Sokka gives him a big grin around cereal before swallowing, “Yeah, I don’t think I got as drunk as you thought,” at which Zuko gives him an unimpressed glance, “I didn’t black out or anything.” 

“Yeah, well, thank the Spirits for that.” 

They both finish their drinks in silence as Sokka flips to a cooking show, wordlessly handing over the cereal box every few minutes. It’s not until they’re both done when Sokka pauses the show and looks over. 

“I wasn’t lying last night, y’know.” 

Zuko can feel his heart beating faster.

“About what?” He asks, playing dumb. 

Sokka just grins and says, “That I love you.” 

He didn’t know what to do. He half expected Toph to jump out from behind their TV and yell, _you got pranked!_ , but that doesn’t seem to be happening. 

“About that,” Zuko starts, glancing over to Sokka but not holding his stare, “Well, you see… You’re not.” 

“I’m not?” Sokka parrots, grin gone, replaced with a shocked face. 

“Correct,” is all Zuko offers before he takes his empty mug and leaves. 

He drops it off in the sink and hides in his room like a coward. 

***

He avoids Sokka as best he can under the lie that he’s working in his room, which he’s sure Sokka sees right through as he never does that. Zuko is… not exactly sure how to go about this. 

Luckily, a call from Suki breaks him out of his existential crisis.

“Hey! You two made it home okay last night? Thanks for driving,” Suki says as a greeting.

“Yes, it was fine. And no worries.”

“Nice. I hear _someone_ got confessed to last night,” she says in a knowing voice.

“What?” Zuko asks. Was everyone in on some joke he had no idea of?

“Sokka!” She practically shouts. “Katara told me Sokka told you he loves you.”

“Oh,” Zuko says. “That.” 

“Yeah, that! What else do you think I meant?” 

He isn’t sure how to break it to Suki. She seems so excited.

“He didn’t mean that, Suki. He was just joking.” 

She makes a sound that, unless it were anyone else, he’d think they were choking. 

“ _Joking?_ Zuko, be serious,” she chastises. 

“I am!” 

“Does Sokka really seem like the type of person to make that joke?” She asks. 

Well, she does have a point. Sure, Sokka makes jokes at his friends' expense sometimes, but never cruelly or over topics like this. 

“Fine, he wasn’t joking. But it’s not true,” Zuko insists.

“It’s not? Why” Suki asks in a monotone voice.

“Because,” he reasons, “well– Because.” 

Suki stays silent for a few seconds before sighing and telling him to text her later. He throws his phone down on the bed, not feeling any better. 

There’s a knock at his door and he wants to groan, but he knows Sokka would hear so he holds it in. 

“Yes?” He says instead, already dreading this conversation. 

Sokka pokes his head in and Zuko invites him in.

They both sit down on his bed and Sokka takes one of his hands. 

“So,” Sokka starts, Zuko already flushing red. 

“So, I told you I was in love with you last night.”

Zuko nods. This seems to be common knowledge at this point. 

“And what did you respond with?” Sokka asks, staring at him. He feels rather put on the spot. 

Did he forget? Is that why he’s asking? 

“I told you that you weren’t,” Zuko reminds him, because maybe Sokka is more hungover than he thought? 

Sokka squeezes his hand and lets out a hum. “Then why do you think I said it?”

Zuko feels his face grow even hotter. This feels unfair, like he’s the punch line to a joke everyone else knows. It’s embarrassing. 

“I don’t know, cause you were drunk or lonely, I don’t know, I just,” he says, cutting himself off. “I know you’re not in love with me, Sokka. It was just a misunderstanding. It’s okay.” 

Sokka nods and stands up. Is… everything cleared then? 

Instead of leaving, he clears his throat and says, “There’s not many times I get to say this, so I’m going to treasure it.” He leans over Zuko, a slight smile on his face, “You, Zuko, are wrong.” 

And he’s gone. 

Just out the door. 

Zuko’s head hurts. 

***

“Thanks for cooking, babe! Love you.” 

Zuko blushes and nods. This, he thinks, is his life now. 

It had been three days and Sokka hadn’t brought up that night again, but kept… doing this. Thanking Zuko and telling him he loves him after the stupidest things. Like, when Zuko took a shower on the first night, and immediately went to the kitchen to make tea Sokka had just waltzed on in, leaned close as if to smell his hair, and let out a soft, _I love you._

Then again, the next morning when Zuko made him his coffee. They watched TV together as usual until Sokka had to leave to get groceries at which point he said, _Bye, babe! See you in a bit, love ya._

This happened again basically anytime Zuko did… anything. It had been three days and Zuko was sure Sokka had said it at least twenty times. 

Zuko, a professional at repressing emotions, did nothing about it. He figured this was something that would pass, like when Sokka got really into skateboarding a few years ago or downloaded Tetris. It was just a phase. 

They eat dinner together until Zuko leaves to go to Katara and Aangs’. Every Monday night for the last few years he and Katara have had a ritual of doing face masks and watching movies while eating whatever dessert they wanted. It had started after Katara’s hatred of Mondays in school, but seemed to be continuing on. 

Sokka, of course, sends him off with a ‘goodbye’ and an ‘I love you’ which Zuko thinks about all the way over. He doesn’t even have to knock on the door before Aang is swinging it open, dressed to leave with Appa on a leash. 

“Oh! Hey Zuko. I was just leaving for a walk, come on in! Katara is in the living room,” Aang says, well-familiar with their routine, and tells them to have fun. 

“So,” Katara says as he walks in, “ready to talk about a certain someone that may or may not be related to me and is also named Sokka?” 

Zuko lets out a loud groan, feeling the emotional discourse from the past few days wash over him. He sits on the couch and turns to Katara, “Can we please, _please_ talk about literally anything else?” 

She seems surprised by his sincerity and promises not to bring it up, instead pulling out new facemasks she wants to try and starts talking about her job hunt. 

“I know I should start looking soon, but, I’m like, so tired. I just want to– Mm, this is good!,” she says as she pops a candy in her mouth, “I just want to sleep for like a week. Is that too much to ask?” 

Zuko hums, trying to not move his face under the crackly texture of the mask.

“Not at all. You deserve it. You worked so hard, you can afford a few weeks off.” 

She smiles at him and wraps Zuko in a one armed hug. “And that’s why you’re my favorite,” Katara says. 

They pass the night with stupid rom-coms and a raid of their freezer, their time winding down, when she finally brings it up again.

“So, you really don’t want to talk about Sokka? He hasn’t told me much, you know.” 

Zuko looks to the side and frowns. “What is there to say? He keeps saying he loves me but he obviously doesn’t. I don’t know what’s going on.” 

“He’s really serious, Zuko,” Katara says, leaning forward to put an arm on his. 

“He’s not,” Zuko says resolutely. 

“Why not?” 

“Because! He can’t love me! There’s no way. He should be in love with a nice girl from work, or maybe someone from your classes, or,” Zuko says, growing angrier and more frustrated, “maybe someone normal and not fucked up like me, he needs someone good, not a freak with half their face burned off!” 

“Oh,” Katara says. And yeah, oh. 

He feels stupid, getting so emotinal and letting go like that. He shoves more Swedish Fish in his mouth just to do something. 

“Zuko, you know I love you. But that is the fucking stupidest thing you’ve ever said,” Katara says calmly, “and I’ve heard you say a lot of stupid stuff.” 

He stays silent. 

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, obviously. But I think you do. And it’s not fair for either of you to deny yourself such a good thing when it’s mutual. It’s okay to be scared, Zuko. Love is scary. But don’t doubt the love my brother feels for you.” 

Zuko stares at the coffee table. He nods. 

“I think I should go home now.” 

They wash their faces off, exchange a hug slightly longer than normal, and Zuko is back in his car, trying not to freak the fuck out. He doesn’t know what his plan is but he can feel adrenaline building as he starts the car and pulls out onto the road. 

Back home, Sokka is on their couch watching a movie– _Spiderman,_ maybe? Zuko can’t really hear it over the beat of his own heart. 

“Hey, how was it! Did you cuddle Appa for me?” Sokka asks, smiling wide. 

“No,” Zuko says, as he keeps moving toward him, sitting down on the couch and turning his body to face Sokka.

“Are you okay, dude?” Sokka asks suddenly, brows pulled together.

Zuko’s brain is going a thousand miles per minute. “Don’t call me dude,” He says, as he places his hands on Sokka’s face, holding him. 

The tables have turned, and now Sokka is the one growing red and blushing because of Zuko. “What are you– What are you doing?” 

He stares at Sokka, waiting for just a hint of hesitation or uncomfortableness, ready to drop his hands. But he doesn’t see any. 

“Do you love me?” He asks, insistent. 

“I– yes. I thought I’ve made that clear,” Sokka says, still confused but laughing slightly. 

“Because I’m in love with you,” Zuko blurts out. He feels his own face warming as he strokes his thumb over Sokka’s cheekbone. He can feel his chest beating and his stomach is tight. “And– And I thought maybe I could convince you to not love me, to find someone better, but…” Zuko draws them closer, foreheads almost touching. “But I don’t want to.”

Sokka sounds breathless, eyes wild. “Good,” he says quickly. “Good, because I am really in love with you. A lot. And I would really love to kiss you.” 

Zuko answers him by bringing their mouths together, getting a slight whimper out of Sokka that he’s going to be replaying in his head for days. He runs a hand through Sokka’s fallen hair, the other hand moving to tighten around the back of his neck. 

Sokka’s hands stay planted on his face as if he’s afraid of Zuko leaving. They break for air but remain close together, breaths mixing as they cling to each other. 

“I’m so lucky to have a love like yours,” Zuko whispers, and Sokka brings them back together.

_One million lovers to choose from but none like her_

_The only one for sure_

_One million lovers to choose from but none like her_

_The only_

_I know nothing stays the same_

_There's always change_

_But you and I will remain_

**Author's Note:**

> wow thanks for reading!!!! i love kudos and comments so please let me know what you thought!!! they keep me going :,))
> 
> also song lyrics (and title) is from one million lovers by the growlers! one of my fav songs so check it out if you want!


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